Communities and families working to prevent youth crime: A snowball's chance?

By Ish Theilheimer, with files from Murray Angus

Despite a hellishly warm climate, a small but articulate movement is starting to snowball in communities across Canada.

The climate is public concern over youth crime. You don't need a pollster to know that one of the "hot buttons" for widespread public insecurity is youth crime. Public panic grows as headlines report sensational crimes.

Despite this harsh climate, there is growing support for youth crime remedies that focus not on punishment and reprisal but on the root causes of crime.

A lot of people believe we need to "get tough with young people," says Memorial University of Newfoundland Professor Joan Pennell. She is a member of the National Crime Prevention Council, a federally mandated commission that has made headlines by calling for stronger and better-funded social programs to prevent crime.

Throughout her career, Dr. Pennell has helped remote and Aboriginal communities research and act on solutions to crime and violence. "'Getting tough' means locking young people up, and when you lock them up, you disrupt all the more their position in the community." When they are released, many offend again. "This approach hasn't decreased criminal activity."

"Panic breeds bad social policy," says Barb Hill of the John Howard Society in Kingston. Her organization works to help offenders rehabilitate themselves and to reform the justice system.

Public fears, she says, are "based on misperceptions about youth crime and what works to prevent youth crime and to prevent those who have already been involved from re-offending."

"The reflection of the youth justice system that the public gets through the media is of the extreme cases," says Anne Sherman of P.E. I., a member of the National Crime Prevention Council who works in public legal education. An incorrect impression is created that youth crime is out of control and that there's far more crime now than there used to be. She says that sentencing for youth in cases of property crimes is, in fact, tougher than in many adult cases.

Former Edmonton police chief Doug McNally, another Council member, agrees with her. Many people, he says, "want to look for simple solutions.... I'm pleased that people are talking about the issue. I just wish that they would recognize that this is a complex issue requiring complex solutions."

One simple answer that some have seized on is to send offending youth to strict, military-style "boot camps." Barb Hill says that in the U.S., this idea has not worked well.

"The research finds that it really doesn't reduce reoffending or reduce the prison population." The only such programs that make much difference are those that offer other programming that includes individual attention and significant after-care. Through research, she says, "We know what works, and it isn't based on labeling and it isn't based on deterrence."

Stricter sentencing does not make sense in a lot of cases, says Elaine Scott, Executive Director of the National Crime Prevention Council. "Yes there's a small minority of kids for whom secure facilities may be the answer," she says. "But there is a larger majority of kids for whom a variety of alternatives would be more effective." She says that Canada has the fourth highest incarceration rate in the world, behind only the U.S., Russia, and South Africa. And the percentage of young offenders diverted from the criminal justice system here is less than even that of the U.S.

Taking responsibility
What are the most appropriate ways to address youth crime? Anne Sherman believes that justice system reform begins with community involvement. "At some point in the past, communities gave up a lot of their power and influence over how their young people in trouble were dealt with." Youth in trouble "were turned over to the justice system. If they were at risk, the community turned their backs on them. There's been a turning of our backs on young people, accompanied by a growing fear of groups of young people, because of things that people have seen on TV or read in the paper."

She says that "a restorative justice system is more appropriate than a punitive justice system, something that combines community involvement, victim involvement and restoration to the victim." She believes that alternatives to court trials and incarceration must provide offending youth with meaningful ways to take responsibility for their actions and to make amends. She strongly believes in the value of community "shaming" to confront offenders with community disapproval.

Prevention profile:

Giving youth credit P.E.I.'s strategy starts with a positive image of youth
Countering negative stereotypes lies at the heart of a province-wide strategy for preventing youth crime in Prince Edward Island. The strategy, dubbed "CRIME -BEAT," was initiated in 1995 by the provincial government, with the active involvement of a cross-section of community groups and agencies on the Island. "A lot of youth think the rest of the world is down on them," says Diane Barnes, coordinator of the justice Resource Service in Charlottetown. "We want to show them that the rest of the community recognizes the good they are doing." Public perceptions of youth involvement in crime don't always match the reality, says Barnes. "People think that it's worse than it is - we owe it to them to correct these false impressions. It gives the kids a morale boost to know that they're being looked upon in a positive way by the rest of the community." That positive image is well-earned. In 1995, two of the five Premier's Crime Prevention Awards went to Island youth groups.		One, Jeunesse Acadienne, produced a musical play about the impacts of drunk driving among youth. Another, Students Against Drinking & Driving, organized a successful "taxi token" campaign during the Christmas season: tokens worth $5 - enough to get anyone in Charlottetown a taxi ride home - were sold throughout the community for use as gifts. "Calling attention to these kinds of efforts not only affirms what kids have done," says Barnes, "it affirms what they can do." Building a positive image of youth is just part of a broader strategy for crime prevention, says Barnes. A provincial advisory group has been formed, with youth representation, to develop the strategy further. "We'll do the conventional things, such as Neighbourhood Watch," says Barnes, "but we want to get at the underlying causes of crime, and get people thinking a bit further. In the end, we want to maximize children's opportunities to make a contribution to their communities." Judging from the efforts to date, it appears many already are.

Barb Hill says "You can't just give it to the police, you've got to take some responsibility. Even when you send these people away to institutions, they're coming back to our communities. What do we do? We can't just throw them away and forget about them." She warns of creating "throw-away children."

In searching for solutions to youth crime, Barb Hill says that Canadians must consider the rationale for a youth justice system. It "should be based on a notion of what childhood and youth are all about. We don't allow children up to a certain age to vote. We say that they're not responsible enough.... We don't let them drive before the age of 16. We want to protect them as long as we can if they are not mature enough to exercise that responsibility."

"Throwing away" or locking up every offending youth would, in fact, be impossible as well as exorbitant. Doug McNally notes that 80% of all young males commit criminal acts at one point or another, but most of these are very minimal. "Criminal behaviour ... is often part of adolescence," he says. "We need better ways to deal with it."

He believes that the most effective way to do that is through early prevention and intervention. "As a society, we can save money if we do primary prevention." This means "adopting a public health model in order to inoculate society against crises coming downstream. The focus needs to be on kids from prenatal to age six."

"The best way of approaching crime prevention is through social development," agrees Elaine Scott. She and the Council argue that only through broad efforts to improve living conditions, community life, and society in general can we hope to prevent crime. "The major priority should be children and youth. Communities and families are essential to any advancement on the issue."

One of the few researchers in Canada who has done long-term research on children at risk and prevention efforts is Dr. Richard Tremblay of the Research Unit on Children's Psycho-Social Maladjustment at the University of Montreal. His research group studied the effect of preventive intervention with the families of physically aggressive boys in kindergarten. They concluded that intensive intervention during the first few years of elementary school can signficantly reduce the risk of having delinquency and school problems later in life.

"It makes a long-term difference. The problem is that it's expensive. It takes two years of intensive intervention in the family and in school. We suggest it would be much better if intervention started early in the life of the child."

Ex-police chief Doug McNally feels the investment in children would be well worth it. "I see our initiatives preventing or reducing costs on our health care system, our social support systems, our justice system," he says. "We will save ourselves all kinds of money." "We are spending 10 billion dollars a year at the back end of the justice system (courts and institutions), and no one is saying that we're getting value for our dollars," says Dr. Petmell. "If you move that spending to the front end, you decrease victimization and you get more leverage to help with young people before they go down this route and get in trouble in the first place."

Prevention profile:

Partners for Youth "We listened to the kids"
Think positively! That's the philosophy behind an innovative community-based, youth crime prevention program in Edmonton. It's a program that has been having success. Centred in two junior elementary schools in different corners of the city, the Partners for Youth program has demonstrated the effectiveness of integrating services for youth with a revolutionary idea - listening to youth themselves. "It was the kids telling us what they want, rather than the other way around," says Jerry Tymkow, Principal of St. Nicholas Roman Catholic School in Edmonton. St. Nicholas is the home for the program in northeast Edmonton, an area identified by the 1992 Mayor's Task Force on Safer Cities as a "high-risk, high-crime area," according to Tymkow. The response was a multi-disciplinary, schoolbased approach to the needs of youth and their families. "We've brought together agencies such as social services, child welfare and the police and made them available to kids by placing them in the school," says Tymkow. The		program has made heavy use of "hands-on" programs, such as those offered by the Boys and Girls Clubs, evening dances, etc. "The key," says Tymkow, "is that we listened to the kids. Once kids got involved in positive activities, the crime rate dropped off." Statistics bear this out: since the program began in 1993, the crime rate in northeast Edmonton has dropped significantly. "Emphasizing the positive is the only way to go," says Tymkow. "We work on the strengths of people, rather than the negative. It's a lot more successful." This philosophy is evident in recent program developments. In response to a community survey, it was decided that a resource centre would be established in a nearby shopping centre to provide one 'window' into various community resources and services. "The community indicated that they wanted a centre that was separate from a school," says Tymkow. "We'll do whatever it takes."

Which children and youth are at risk?
Factors that "inoculate" children against criminal involvement later in life correspond to those that contribute to child development.

The prospects for healthy child development are not evenly distributed across the population of children. Instead, they are distributed disproportionately on the basis of such factors as:

heritage
social class
family structure
history of childhood victimization (physical, emotional, sexual)
immigration history
race
geographical location or place of residence
abilities/disabilities.

"A very small number of kids commit a disproportionate number of criminal offenses," says Doug McNally. "These kids have a number of strikes against them by the time they start school."

Dr. Tremblay reports that, in kindergarten, three factors indicate a high risk of later antisocial behaviour: hyper-activity, fearlessness, and a lack of helpful behaviour towards others. "Boys that have a high score on each of these behaviours are at very high risk of being among the most delinquent." His study showed that about 60% of young children with such behaviours go on to become young offenders.

The experts say that children from troubled, or low-income homes are most at risk of running afoul of the law. There is a new category of young offender showing up more frequently, however. Doug McNally and others speak of a trend toward more criminal offenses by middle-class youth. "Although there's no statistical evidence, I worry that it's caused by the same problem - parental neglect. Perhaps it's a case of both parents having to work or having less time to spend with their kids."

At the other end of Canada, Joan Pennell has made similar observations. She feels that society "keeps young people marginalized in terms of assuming responsibility for their lives. We're not giving them opportunities to really participate in a responsible way in society." With declining job prospects, she says, "Young people are really at loose ends." More and more, those involved in crime prevention are fastening their attention on early childhood. "Children need to develop properly so that when they get into school, they're ready to learn, able to stay in school, and can go on to graduate and to lead productive lives." says Doug McNally. "I firmly believe that we're letting down a lot of children."

Claudette Bradshaw is Executive Director of the Moncton Head Start program and another member of the Council. She works with low-income families with young children every day and is sensitive to the warning signs of trouble ahead. "If children are born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, it stays with them for the rest of their lives. If the mum doesn't eat properly and the baby has a low birth weight, we know the effects that can have for the rest of his or her life." These traits can be precursors to the kind of behaviour that Richard Tremblay has found to be so troubling.

"Somehow you've got to break the cycle. In some families, generations have been involved in the justice system," says P.E.I.'s Anne Sherman. "We have to seriously look at kids who are being abused and neglected. When we fail to protect kids, we are creating a generation of potential future criminals.

"Not only are you letting these children down, they're growing up in situations where they learn all sorts of social messages such as the most powerful person has all the rights and if you're big and loud, you can get what you want; that violence works, that you should take what you want when you want it."

Prevention profile:

Youth Helping Youth The Ambassador Program emphasizes school, jobs-- and youth helping each other.
The Ambassador Program in downtown Toronto has been described as a "retrieval program" for street youth. But it goes beyond just retrieving kids who have dropped out of school and lived through drug abuse; it gives them an active role in dissuading other kids from making the same mistakes. The program, begun in 1991, is delivered by a coalition of eight youth-services agencies under the auspices of Frontier College. It has three priorities: to get the street youth back into an educational path, to give them practical experience in the workplace, and to offer them a chance to put their troubled life experience to work for the betterment of others. Youth enrolled in the program spend their mornings in class, working at their own pace towards high school credits. Additional credits are earned in the afternoons by doing work placements in various job settings. The payoff for the rest of the community comes not just from the fact that a limited number of kids find alternatives to drugs and crime (sixteen are enrolled at any given time), but that so many other "high-risk" kids are steered away from similar lifestyles. "Speak Out" is the name of the component that spreads the benefits beyond the individuals and into the community. Youth enrolled in the Ambassador Program are trained to visit senior elementary schools in "high-risk" neighbourhoods and make presentations to Grade 7 and 8 students about life on the street and on drugs, based on their own experiences. The target audience is no mere coincidence: schools have identified twelve to fourteen-year-olds as the best age group to target for risk reduction. "The overwhelming demand from the schools for these types of presentations shows their value, and the need for more peer education projects to exist," says Miria Ioannou, program director at the College. The feedback from the youth enrolled in the Ambassador Program has been "phenomenal," says Ioannou. "Not only is it the first time in their lives that they've had support from others, it's also the first time they've been able to do something for others."

Family and community approaches to young offenders
Despite the widespread clamour for rough justice, some communities are taking responsibility for youth crime by developing community-based ways to deal with young people in trouble. Some ideas, such as family conferencing, offer promise as alternatives to incarceration. In a family conference, a young offender meets with a group of family and community members to discuss his or her offence, its impact on victims, and means to make amends. The idea, based on Aboriginal traditions, has been used in New Zealand for several years to good effect.

In about five years, the number of secure beds in New Zealand for incarcerated youth dropped from 3,000 to 72, due in large part to the success of family conferencing, according to Elaine Scott. She says that Canadians must expect to invest time and effort into developing alternative justice measures. "But we can't continue to afford what we're doing."

Education is another fundamental in crime prevention, says Anne Sherman. "I would like to see education about the youth justice system begin at grade one," "Most young people think there are no consequences if they offend, that their record will be destroyed when they become adults, and that essentially it's a laugh." Just as importantly, she says that much public education is needed to inform the adult population of the true nature of youth crime and of approaches that work.

"When people have more information and they know the facts, they can make more thoughtful decisions," says Barb Hill of the John Howard Society. "Right now, we're not finding that this information is getting through."

She sees hope, however, in that local crime prevention councils are springing up. "People are starting to say 'We want to do something different here.'" That's the spirit, she says, behind a conference being organized in Kitchener called Alternatives to Boot Camps: Community Solutions to Youth Crime. She says that the organizers are "people who want to talk about what their community can do instead of sending their youth away."

Alarmed by cutbacks
According to many, the greatest threat to crime prevention is the cutbacks to social programs so prevalent in Canada today. Dr. Pennell warns that cutbacks in other areas are forcing into the justice system many youth who should be dealt with otherwise. The justice system is being called upon now to provide services that formerly would have been provided by schools and social service agencies.

She warns that New Zealand, despite its successes with family conferencing, has also experienced big setbacks. In order to cut the nation's budget deficit, social programs have been slashed in recent years, she says. "They moved from being a country with a very low rate of youth suicide to having one of the highest rates among industrialized countries." She is concerned about the effect of reductions in federal transfers for social programs on vulnerable families and youth.

Claudette Bradshaw feels the erosion of social programs will change Canada for the worse. "When people come to Canada, they feel safe and secure because they know we have taken care of our people. It would be unfortunate to lose that."

Many members of the National Crime Prevention Council and others working for youth justice reform appear to feel that Canada is at a crossroads on youth crime. They strongly support new measures that will take the load off the justice system and allow families and communities to take responsibility for their own children and youth. At the same time, many are alarmed over the breakdown in Canada's social support network and the accompanying hardening of public attitudes - and spending patterns.

Doug McNally warns against the dangers of attempting to privatize the rearing of the nation's children. "We seem to have the attitude in Canada and the U.S. that raising children is a family affair. While that's true, the state has a role as well."

As Claudette Bradshaw says, "As a country, we need to say to ourselves that we either pay in early childhood or we're going to pay later."

Prevention profile:

Bent Arrow -- Aboriginal youth find a new future
"We give kids an alternative to crime.." This is how Shauna Seneca describes both the goal and the effects of the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society's program for aboriginal youth in Edmonton. The 16-week program is aimed at urban youth, ages 16 to 24 - a group that is at high risk for involvement in urban crime. According to Seneca, who (along with husband Brad) is the Executive Director of the program, about 6O% of the kids coming through the program have already had some involvement with the criminal justice system. "Our kids who have been involved in crime don't believe there are any other options," she says. "Our job is to convince them otherwise." The approach they use draws heavily upon traditional Aboriginal culture and spirituality. "The program places a great emphasis on building personal self-esteem. Getting in touch with their Aboriginal identity and spirituality is a central part of that," says Seneca. Practical experience in the "real" world is also central to the program. Since its inception in 1992, Bent Arrow has forged impressive ties		with the local business community. Students do a five-week placement with employers who agree to hire them if they meet the requirements of their workplace. The high rate of success, according to Seneca, stems from the fact that Bent Arrow works closely with the employers throughout the five-week trial period. "We train employers so they'll know who they're working with," she says. At the heart of the project, however, are the personal relationships with the students. "This place is more like an extended family," says Seneca, "and that's by design. These kids need people in their lives who will care for them, come hell or high water. Many have never known that before." The results attest to the wisdom of their approach. Of 24 "high-risk" youth in their most recent program, 18 graduated; of these, 10 stepped into jobs, 4 headed back to school, and 4 were actively engaged in their job search. "We provide resources, skills and support so they know that they don't have to go back to their old ways," says Seneca.

Youth crime - what do we know?

What are the trends in youth crime?
The number of youth charged with crimes across Canada declined 17% between 1991 and 1994 (from 110,578 to 90,701). Property crimes by youth declined by 24% (from 91,659 to 69,045), while crimes involving violence rose by 14% (18,919 to 21,656).

What factors are related to youth crime?
In Ontario, 97% of children in custody had suffered abuse at the hands of a trusted authority figure according to the National Crime Prevention Council. They say that other factors related to youth crime include: child poverty; inadequate living conditions; inconsistent and uncaring parenting; family breakdown; racism and other forms of discrimination; difficulties in school; delinquent friends; and living in situations where there is substance abuse.

How often does violence figure in youth crime?
Most charges against youth are for property crimes, such as theft under $1000, or breaking and entering. About one in five offences involves violence. A smaller percentage involves serious injury or the use of a weapon.

How has the Young Offenders Act affected police treatment of youth crime?
The rate at which police charged young offenders rose by 21% in the five years after the introduction of the Young Offenders Act (YOA) in 1984. During that period, the number of youth involved in criminal activities remained roughly the same as in the previous five years.

How does the treatment of youth under the Young Offenders Act compare with that of adult criminals?
A recent comparison showed the average youth custody sentence to be 22% longer than for adults. And unlike adults, young offenders aren't eligible for parole after a third of their sentence.

Do jail terms deter youth crime?
There is no evidence that longer sentences deter young offenders from future crime. There is growing evidence, however, that the type of social environment a young offender in an inappropriate (i.e., adult) corrections environment will likely reduce his or her likelihood of developing a normal life.

What proportion of incarcerated youth are violent offenders?
Over three quarters of young people in custody are there for non-violent offences. These include property crimes, plus such crimes such as "failure to appear" in court. A small percentage have committed crimes involving "serious" violence.

What are the costs of incarcerating youth?
The average cost of keeping a 16-year-old young offender in secure custody in Ontario is approximately $237 per day. Open custody (rigidly supervised living in the community such as in halfway houses) is approximately $167 per day. Community supervision can be implemented at one-sixth that cost.

Based on information from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, The Canadian Journal of Criminology, The John Howard Society and the National Crime Prevention Council.

National organizations working on crime prevention
Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police 130 Albert St., Suite 1710 Ottawa K1P 5G4 (613) 233-1106 Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies 251 Bank St., Suite 600 Ottawa K2P 1X3 (613) 238-2422 Canadian Criminal Justice Association 383 Parkdale Ave. Ottawa K1Y 4R4 (613) 725-3715 The Church Council on Justice and Corrections 507 Bank St. Ottawa K2P 1Z5 (613)563-1688	Canadian Federation of Municipalities 24 Clarence St. Ottawa K1N 5P3 (613) 241-5221 The John Howard Society 383 Parkdale Ave. Ottawa K1Y 4R4 (613)761-7678 National Associations Active in Criminal Justice 308-383 Parkdale Ave. Ottawa K1Y 4R4 (613)761-1032 National Crime Prevention Council 130 Albert St. Ottawa K1A 0H8 (613) 941-0505

Ish Theilheimer is the editor of Transition.
Murray Angus is an Ottawa-based writer who has worked for ten years with Aboriginal organizations

This article first appeared in Transition, (March 1996), published by the Vanier Institute of the Family.

Posted by the Vanier Institute of the Family, October 8/96.